Official Tesla Model 3 thread

[hyperionmark]

such a sad way to live life...anything we can do for you, Ed?

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

All of this is bad, but in my case I am hours from a service center. I can promise that I am never taking a day out of my week to get a car serviced. Never. Do not have the time, and if I had it I would not make it for that. So if I'm having this thing shipped to me or driving across state to pick it up and one of these problems pops up, how does it get resolved?

I would definitely get something (and would ask for it in writing) on Tesla's plan for providing you service if you decide to go ahead with a purchase. Fortunately I am literally within 10 minutes (5 minutes if I catch the lights right) of my service center, but realize most are certainly not that fortunate. If I was located that far away I would insist on them coming out to me, and if they weren't willing to do that it would definitely make me consider very carefully.

Having said that, I would also be wary of the selection bias of the internet with respect to hearing about problems. It's probably pretty tough to gauge whether the plentitude of issues you are hearing about (and I've heard about as well) are 0.1%, 5%, 25% or 50% of owners out there. And I can't think of a way to really validate that either, so yeah, it's a tough decision to make.

Best bet would be simply to wait as long as you can before pulling the trigger. This will give Tesla more time to improve QC on the product itself, and possibly allow you to solicit a wider variety of opinions from actual owners to help you determine how prevalent the issues really are.

You are right that reading about horror stories online makes statistically relevant observations difficult. I'm really interested in hearing from some quassi-long term use (even 6 months) ownership by magazines like consumer reports, or some numbers pop up on some aggregate sites like truedelta (assuming it doesn't have haters feeding in bad numbers).

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

Your other comments above, being bullshit, do not merit reply, however:

...

The only additional firm production projection TSLA has given is 5 k per week by April fools day, so whatever "nice ramp" may mean, you really have two months left before the next (potential) disappointment...

And let me again correct you that TSLA has estimated (not a firm projection!) 2500 by end of 1Q. The 5K/week is end of 2Q (June 30). And they've been saying that for about a month now. So no need to keep bringing up these numbers that you know are false.

Yes, I made a mistake, citing TSLA's next-to-last announcement of its failures in producing model 3s , rather than the most recent one it made on January third.

BTW, today marks six months since Musk's first comically delusional projection of model 3 production

Elon Musk

Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec

10:12 PM - Jul 2, 2017

https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Felectrek.co%2F2017%2F07%2F03%2Ftesla-model-3-production-ramp-up%2F

Meanwhile, back on-topic, various significant model 3 design and build quality issues identified, prior to tear-down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM

Be honest, have you ever heard of these guys?

Anyway, the window trim I can't make a comment on because I don't know if he's right about what he said. I agree that the trim spacing on the trunk inconsistency is indicative of poor quality. As for accessing at time of emergency I'm positive tesla knows what the law is and this thing can't have been certified to be sold without passing through various regulations, so him saying the lawyers will have a field day seems to me to be abject BS.

 

[edatoakrun]

...Meanwhile, back on-topic, various significant model 3 design and build quality issues identified, prior to tear-down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM

Be honest, have you ever heard of these guys?...

Re: Chevrolet Bolt - 60 kWh, 238 mi, < 7s 0-60

As a matter of fact, yes I have:

This interview goes far beyond the Bolt, with comparisons to his earlier i-3 teardown, other BEVs, battery designs, etc.

I had it on in the background, I'm now ~ 80 minutes into this rambling 90 minute program, and plan on listening again...

Tearing Into The Chevy Bolt EV - Autoline After Hours 385

Streamed live on Jul 13, 2017
TOPIC: Chevrolet Bolt EV
SPECIAL GUEST: Sandy Munro, Munro & Associates

You may want to skip the first ~5 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl3cUMIX9Uo

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18907&p=501802&hilit=bolt+munro#p501802

Re: Official BMW i3 thread

The videos posted below are essentially commercials for M&A, but they give some more details on (IMO) how the i-3 design leads all other BEVs on the market today:

...In January, the consulting firm Munro & Associates produced an entertaining video showing how its engineers took apart and reverse-engineered an i3. Now the firm has released a series of short clips of the teardown process, each of which highlights an interesting feature of the innovative EV, from the clever design of its battery pack to the carbon fiber body to the economically-designed interior (you can skip the first minute of each video, a intro segment that’s almost the same for all three)...

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/more-videos-reveal-bmw-i3s-most-intimate-details/

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=421123#p421123

 

[SageBrush]

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

Rangers

I live ~ 400 miles from the nearest service center so I pay attention to this issue also.
I now have a way to use our LEAF for work commuting by charging at an understanding neighbor's home, but that privilege cannot be abused. My other alternative is to keep our Prius Prime for emergency duty if the Model 3 is unavailable, but that is an expensive back-up.
In the end, I think I'll just accept the small risk of having to rent a gasser.

 

[Zythryn]

...
You are right that reading about horror stories online makes statistically relevant observations difficult. I'm really interested in hearing from some quassi-long term use (even 6 months) ownership by magazines like consumer reports, or some numbers pop up on some aggregate sites like truedelta (assuming it doesn't have haters feeding in bad numbers).

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

Quite rational and sound. I applaud you for being cautious and deliberate.
Waiting also gives Tesla time to iron out early production issues.

In my case, having over 7 years of experience with Tesla vehicles, and this being a car I have been waiting almost ten years for, I am not so patient.
Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

 

[SageBrush]

Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

Happy birthday !
I look forward to hearing your impressions

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

Rangers

I live ~ 400 miles from the nearest service center so I pay attention to this issue also.
I now have a way to use our LEAF for work commuting by charging at an understanding neighbor's home, but that privilege cannot be abused. My other alternative is to keep our Prius Prime for emergency duty if the Model 3 is unavailable, but that is an expensive back-up.
In the end, I think I'll just accept the small risk of having to rent a gasser.

So how many of these issues results in the car being undrivable. I have seen a few mentioned here and there but they are all minor inconveniences in my eyes. The car still charges, the car still drives?

 

[SageBrush]

So how many of these issues results in the car being undrivable. I have seen a few mentioned here and there but they are all minor inconveniences in my eyes. The car still charges, the car still drives?

Exactly. It would be a rare case of not having the car for use, and even less likely not having the car available for an extended time.

And of course service centers are getting built all the time, and we can hope for independents down the road.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

So how many of these issues results in the car being undrivable. I have seen a few mentioned here and there but they are all minor inconveniences in my eyes. The car still charges, the car still drives?

Exactly. It would be a rare case of not having the car for use, and even less likely not having the car available for an extended time.

And of course service centers are getting built all the time, and we can hope for independents down the road.

Yeah, I have a service center 60 miles away but I would probably just put it off hoping for some OTA fixes.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I remember the issues with the first LEAFs, panels and hoods not aligned, some wire harness hanging and not connected to the frame, crummy paint. Now Nissan has been making cars a long time, what was their excuse? My car had a VIN under 500 and had a bunch of defects including a missing part. Pretty normal on first runs.

 

[Zythryn]

Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

Happy birthday !
I look forward to hearing your impressions

Thank you! I look forward to having first hand impressions :lol:

 

[hyperionmark]

Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

Happy birthday !
I look forward to hearing your impressions

Thank you! I look forward to having first hand impressions :lol:

Looks like a road trip is in order once the weather gets warm!

 

[RegGuheert]

Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

What was your reservation number?

 

[edatoakrun]

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

Rangers

I live ~ 400 miles from the nearest service center so I pay attention to this issue also...

So how many of these issues results in the car being undrivable. I have seen a few mentioned here and there but they are all minor inconveniences in my eyes...

You folks are on the wrong forum for the discussion of the TSLA service experience...

Why Tesla Will Fail

...They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/why-tesla-will-fail.107480/

 

[scottf200]

Title: Will 3 car seats fit in a Tesla Model 3?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4oqmLIhVV4[/youtube]

 

[Evoforce]

Ed, what is it going to take for you to give up and understand that the vast majority of people with a Tesla are ultimately happy customers!

 

[dgpcolorado]

I agree the lack of heated steering wheel is really unfortunate, along with lack of a key fob.

As more cars hit the road I'm starting to have reservations about the model 3 again. I'm seeing far too many issues pop up on the forums. Lots of owners have already had to go back to the service center, sometimes within a day or two, to get things fixed, anything from battery to RFID reader to a mirror motor to a touch screen (some of them apparently are possessed and pressing the right side of the screen by themselves). Really just weird issues across the board indicative of Tesla's mad rush to push it out the door before nailing down quality issues.

All of this is bad, but in my case I am hours from a service center. I can promise that I am never taking a day out of my week to get a car serviced. Never. Do not have the time, and if I had it I would not make it for that. So if I'm having this thing shipped to me or driving across state to pick it up and one of these problems pops up, how does it get resolved?

As SageBrush says: Ranger service (Mobile Service Technician). If it is warranty service and you live a long way from a Service Center a Ranger will do the work or flatbed tow the car to a Service Center. My main screen went out — the car was still driveable but default charging was very slow, which limited useful range. When the ranger couldn't get a replacement in a couple of days — Tesla had a hold on them for some reason — he brought me a rental car and took my car to Denver 300+ miles away. He would have brought it back to me, but I drove the rental to Denver and drove my car home myself because it is a lovely drive over the mountains and I enjoy it. All this was at no cost to me since my CPO car is under warranty.

No, Service Centers aren't everywhere, so Tesla introduced Ranger service some years ago. By the way, my CPO car was delivered to me when I bought it because I was so far away. I think the delivery limit was something like 155 miles or more, although subject to change I would guess.

Just something else to consider. However, since you are adamant that you don't want to deal with problems, you might want to wait a couple of years before considering a Model 3, while Tesla works out problems with the early cars. You don't seem like someone willing to deal with early production model issues. Someday they might even add a cold weather package with a heated steering wheel (I'd like that).

 

[EVDRIVER]

Rangers

I live ~ 400 miles from the nearest service center so I pay attention to this issue also...

So how many of these issues results in the car being undrivable. I have seen a few mentioned here and there but they are all minor inconveniences in my eyes...

You folks are on the wrong forum for the discussion of the TSLA service experience...

Why Tesla Will Fail

...They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/why-tesla-will-fail.107480/

Oh boy. For every story like this there are 2X for other auto makers inc Nissan.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

...
You are right that reading about horror stories online makes statistically relevant observations difficult. I'm really interested in hearing from some quassi-long term use (even 6 months) ownership by magazines like consumer reports, or some numbers pop up on some aggregate sites like truedelta (assuming it doesn't have haters feeding in bad numbers).

Simply put, though, if Tesla cannot have a service center in my city or some way to ensure that I will never have to ship this car on my own dime, I will be out.

Quite rational and sound. I applaud you for being cautious and deliberate.
Waiting also gives Tesla time to iron out early production issues.

In my case, having over 7 years of experience with Tesla vehicles, and this being a car I have been waiting almost ten years for, I am not so patient.
Just this morning I have a VIN assignment for my Model 3. If I am lucky I will get it by my birthday on the 22nd

Good luck

As for rational and sound being accused of it is probably a first for me, thank you !